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By now, everyone has heard of the tragedy in Colorado. Some evil nut-job burst into a crowded movie theater and opened fire. Moviegoers thought it was a publicity stunt for the new Batman movie, but it wasn’t.

Crowds are dangerous. From what happened in Colorado, they attract evil people that want to do evil things. Then a crowd never reacts logically. People will panic and run. They will run over each other and kill each other in a panic that may or may not help anyone.

People become anonymous. Once people think there is no recourse for their actions, they are likely to behave badly. Then “mob think” comes into play. People will follow each other. One idiot throws a rock or breaks a window and then someone else does it, then another and another. Pretty soon the crowd is turning over cop cars and burning down buildings. Once the crowd goes from group to mob, it turns into a riot. Now you are in danger of being hurt by the crowd and by the police that will show up to put down the riot.

When a crowd moves there isn’t much stopping it. You could easily be crushed to death by the people around you or knocked to the ground and trampled to death. You have to watch which way the crowd is moving and be prepared to move with it. The best thing is to get out of there. When the crowd starts moving in one direction, don’t be a fish swimming up stream, go in the same basic direction but off at an angle to get out of the crowd. Watch out for walls and cars that you could be crushed against. Also make sure you aren’t pushed into a police line. They won’t be too kind about having you there. I mention this because a common way for the police to put down a riot is to literally push the crowd around until people get tired or bored.

If you are in a large crowd try to stay at the edges. This way you can get away from the crowd if you need to. If the crowd isn’t moving, the walls are generally a good way to move around, but watch for movement.

I generally don’t like crowds and avoid them when I can. Just remember that any confined space with a large amount of people can be dangerous. It attracts evil and just by numbers, the more people you get in one area the more likely there is to be dirt bags (people that commit crimes as a way of life).

As Christmas comes closer the crowds get larger, and larger, and larger. At least we all survived Black Friday.

Years of working for an armored car company in California made me an expert in getting through crowds in the mall. On my delivery route I had multiple malls to negotiate.

When the crowds get really dense, keep your hands up in front of you. It will give you some space so people don’t run into you. It will also let you split people in front of you so you can get through the crowd instead of just moving with it.

Moving through crowds is difficult. If you need to get somewhere move sideways to the flow of the crowd. Most crowds will be moving like traffic on a freeway, just two ways. If you are trying to get through the crowd move sideways to a wall and move along the wall.

If you are carrying things (women, your purse) like bags, hold your stuff in front of you. It will keep your bags from being caught on people and someone from stealing them. If the crowd gets really thick, hug the stuff to your chest and it will allow you to move faster, and keep your stuff from disappearing.

One last thing tip, look up and see where you are going. There are still people in a large crowd that you don’t want to go near. In the mall it’s generally large groups of teenagers that are bored and looking to cause trouble.

Stay Safe,

Ben

P.S. Stay off the cell phone, no talking or texting. It’s a good way to get your stuff stolen, or if you drop it, a good way to get kicked why you are trying to pick it up.

About Me

I’ve loved shooting since the first time I pulled a trigger at age 8. During high school I volunteered at my local PD where I learned more about handguns. I joined the Marine Corps Infantry after high school. I was a reserve for 10 years with 2 years of active duty and 1 tour in Iraq in 2003. I worked for an armored car company for almost 7 years mostly in the LA area of California. During all that I also got a degree in law enforcement and went through two different police academies. Being a cop never worked out, but through it all I’ve always been training people to fight. I spent all of 2008 in Iraq again as a private contractor defending a base. There I got to teach and train with the US Army and others. Now I want to bring that experience and my joy of teaching to others. I love teaching firearms and want the good people of the world to be able to defend themselves. It’s now my mission and purpose in life.